Archive for the ‘Brain Exercises’ Category

We’ve reported before on the evidence that our brains keep generating new neurons even into adulthood. Now scientists have been able to investigate more about specifically where these neurons appear in the brain, and how these areas differ between different mammals (in this study, humans and mice). The scientists from Sweden and Germany noted that a key difference in adult neurogenesis in humans seems to be the generation of new neurons in the human striatum — a region of the brain associated with coordination, cognition and emotions.

A layman’s interpretation of this might be that in human society we need to keep adapting and developing our cognitive and emotional skills throughout our lives as we adapt to new phases of life and new demands. Therefore we have evolved brains that can grow and change in the regions that support these processes.

A reminder here from the realm of football (soccer) that our brains take time to change: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2014/england-world-cup-flops-must-3763030

The English Football Association hired a sports psychologist to try to bring a winning mindset to the country’s world cup players and the team. Too little, too late argues Martin Lipton as England return home from Brasil without reaching the round of 16.

Studies show that with working memory brain training it can take 2 to 4 weeks before we begin to notice the benefits of increased focus and attention.

One of the questions I get asked most often by MindSparke trainees is what else they can or should be doing to maximize their brain power. Research shows that regular exercise is not only good for the body but good for the brain as well. This Time magazine piece summarizes evidence from several studies demonstrating the benefits of regular aerobic exercise.

Now, before you turn off your computer and head to the gym I should stress that exercise can’t do for your brain what working memory training can. But combining regular exercise with your brain training regimen is phenomenal. We’ve found that the best approach is to do some physical exercise before brain training for a boost in score and efficacy. This is also a great way to take advantage of the mood-enhancing impact of aerobic exercise.

Peter Carruthers is a philosopher with a particular interest in the philosophy of the mind. Recently he’s turned his attention to the nature and function of working memory in humans, writing a paper on the “Evolution of Working Memory“. He concludes that while working memory in humans is similar to working memory in primates and other animals, it seems to be used more intensively and more abstractly. In this interview with Scientific American, Carruthers emphasizes just how important it is for us to be able to consciously hold and manipulate information in order to strategise, reflect, and act. He likens working memory to a mental movie.

It turns out that those mushroom clouds from atomic bomb tests in the 1950s and 60s brought a boon to researchers of brain development. Using carbon dating, researchers from the lauded Karolinska Institute in Sweden have determined that a staggering 1/3 or more of brain cells in the brain’s hippocampus are renewed during our lifetime. This refutes the often-heard criticism of brain training that our brain power is essentially fixed. The hippocampus houses all of the critical brain functions that govern memory, comprehension, and decision-making.

“We provide the first evidence that there is substantial neurogenesis in the human hippocampus throughout life, suggesting that the new neurons may contribute to human brain function,” said senior study author Jonas Frisén of the Karolinska Institute.

The relatively brief period during which above-ground nuclear tests were permitted gave the researchers the opportunity to trace the path of the Carbon-14 isotope (a by-product of nuclear testing) through the cells of people who lived during that era. The findings showed that about 1,400 new neurons are being made each day, and the rate of neurogenesis doesn’t decrease with age.

Any late-bloomers out there? If you didn’t see any benefits with initial training ( by “initial” i mean completing a full 19 day program, at least), but stuck with it and eventually saw some?

Training not working for me thus far. I finished the 19 sessions, took a five day break, and just did another sessions. I was training in a single -n mode, and also doing practice exercises in dual-mode in the final five days (levels 1 and 2 only as not to go against recommendation). I did not notice any improvement in my daily life in terms of memory, concentration, or processing speed. I reached N4.7 (3rd level) at the end of my 19 days. My N went up slightly to 4.9 today, but even that is not very impressive since I had higher averages at 2 previous sessions. Furthermore, I took a makeshift iq test ( I used the logical reasoning section from an LSAT book. In my opinion, it’s a much more reliable test of fluid intelligence than the internet iq tests, and has more real-life correlation than plugging through a bunch of visual patterns) and scored the same as I did a few years ago.

It would be encouraging to see if others have been in this situation. I feel like I might just end up quitting if I continue not seeing results

I want to give it one more shot and plan to train for 19 more days in dual-mode. I will even try to do two sessions a day. If that doesn’t work, than that’s that.

A team from UC Santa Barbara has shown that just two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and focus.

Published in Psychological Science and led by Michael Mrazek, the study, “Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering” surprised the researchers with its clear-cut results: “What surprised me the most was actually the clarity of the results,” said Mrazek, “We found reduced mind-wandering in every way we measured it.”

Mindfulness is another term for full conscious engagement or presence of mind on the task at hand. When the mind wanders our performance on tasks requiring our attention declines.

Mrazek and his colleagues randomly assigned undergraduate students to either a mindfulness class or a class on nutrition. Before the classes started the students took a test of verbal reasoning from the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and a working memory capacity (WMC) test. The researchers also measured mind-wandering during the tests.

After the classes the students re-took the tests. Those who had taken the mindfulness class scored significantly better on both the verbal GRE test and the working memory capacity test. Their mind-wandering during testing had also diminished. For those who had taken the nutrition class, the researchers measured no such improvement.

“This is the most complete and rigorous demonstration that mindfulness can reduce mind-wandering, one of the clearest demonstrations that mindfulness can improve working memory and reading, and the first study to tie all this together to show that mind-wandering mediates the improvements in performance,” said Mrazek.

Brain Training with MindSparke’s Brain Fitness Pro is already a great mindfulness booster. Here are three more that would be wonderful adjuncts to the training:

P - Proceed by giving yourself you need to feel supported; reach out to someone who can listen, for instance, or deliberately put your current thoughts and feelings into a broader perspective.

3. Walk.

Not an acronym this time. Just a great activity for helping us practice mindfulness. Rather than walking in a state of distraction, though, focus on the physical and mechanical aspects of the act of walking, your legs and feet moving, your balance shifting, your breath supporting your movements. Likewise you can turn your mindful attention to the world around you. The sights, sounds, smells and sensations of the places you’re walking through.

A trial in the UK is using a combination of brain training and magnetic pulses to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

“The treatment stimulates key regions of the brain involved in memory and learning, enhancing patients’ ability to make new memories.

“The scientists behind the technique say it can allow Alzheimer’s patients to live far more independently than they otherwise would and extends the time they can spend with their families before suffering the devastating mental decline associated with the disease.”

As reported in the Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9637946/Magnetic-pulses-while-brain-training-provides-new-treatment-for-Alzhiemers.html

In a study of young adults, scientists from the University of Pittsburgh found that a dietary increase of Omega-3 supplements boosted working memory.

“We found that [young people] can enhance their working memory performance even further, despite their already being at the top of their cognitive game,” said Bita Moghaddam, professor of neuroscience on the team.

The researchers used n-back training to determine working memory performance prior to a 6 month period of Omega-3 supplementation.

“What was particularly interesting about the presupplementation n-back test was that it correlated positively with plasma Omega-3,” said Moghaddam. “This means that the Omega-3s they were getting from their diet already positively correlated with their working memory.”

“So many of the previous studies have been done with the elderly or people with medical conditions, leaving this unique population of young adults unaddressed,” said Matthew Muldoon, project coinvestigator and associate professor of medicine at Pitt. “But what about our highest-functioning periods? Can we help the brain achieve its full potential by adapting our healthy behaviors in our young adult life? We found that we absolutely can.”